It is troubling that the City of Springfield gave Mr. John Q. Hammond's an ultimatum over the vacant lot next to the Springfield Expo Center while the Heer's Tower project lays in ruin. At least Mr. Hammond's kept his grass mowed and the property looking presentable.

Look at the Heer's building; each time you look at it you can see further deterioration.
Indeed there are two key differences to the Hammond's and Heer's project. Mr. Hammond's is a self made millionaire. The Heer's project is a perfect example of inept government; why welfare projects basically fail; and potitician's making questionable deals without the public's best interest in mind. Have the citizen's of Springfield ever been asked to vote over the Heer's reconstruction?

If this city should ever get out of it's current financial crisis it's government should keep in mind that private developers have built this city; generated the tax dollar's that gives us the quality of life in Springfield, MO that we enjoy today. Their continued success is vital for our future.

Besides Walgreens at Kearney and National the location at Fremont and Republic road sits across the street from Disney Elementary; also very close to a busy school with lots of children. They have also applied for a liquor license there as well.

I was also suprised to see Walgreen's application to sell alcohol on south National directly across the street from St. John's Hospital. Between their help and patients I'm sure the Sisters of Mercy will find lots of empty cans and flasks. laying everywhere.

Over the last several months we have learned that the Police and Fire pension fund was in trouble; underfunded; and bad investments had been made.

I really don't believe that when the local mananagers invested in a big company like Prudential they ever dreamed that there would be this type of risk. But it seems that in this and many other cases the city failed to read the fine print.

It seems that investing the funds in the bonds issued to build City Utilities Southwest 2 would have been a safer fiscal choice. At least accountability for return on investment would have been c***** to home.